Staff

Living in a Western culture where Christianity has held significant influence over the course of history, it is important to expand one’s knowledge of different world religions.

Dr. Paul Shrier, a ministry professor at APU, sits down with Collide to discuss the values of each religion as they are applied to the Christian faith.

“I believe now that every religion is a preparation for Christ, just like Judaism,” Shrier says. “I believe there is truth; it says in the Bible that God is going throughout the world seeking for a person who wants to know God. So, it would be pretty weird to me if God goes throughout the world seeking for people who want to know God but he’s absent from other religions. The idea that other religions are completely counterfeits to pull you away from Christ, there’s counterfeit aspects perhaps, but I think that all religions in some ways are preparations for Christ, because it’s a lot of well-meaning people who want to know God, and God wants to know them.”

Understanding what other people hold as basic truths also helps one to fully understand and appreciate his or her own beliefs. In this article, the fundamental beliefs of Buddhism, Hinduism, Judaism, Mormonism, Islam and atheism are identified as a means of helping readers gain more knowledge about each.

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion that focuses on spiritual development in which followers seek insight into their lives with a desire to reach Nirvana, which refers to enlightenment.

Followers do not believe in a personal god or savior, but instead that everyone is on their own path to enlightenment by following the teachings of Buddha. They believe that life doesn’t end and instead that they are reincarnated and experience suffering until they reach enlightenment through meditation, morality and wisdom.

Meditation, or thinking and working on one’s own mind, is required in Buddhism, as followers work to develop positive mental states as they overcome their trials. Buddhists believe that anyone can become Buddha by achieving a blissful and perfectly peaceful mind.

They also believe in The Four Noble Truths, which the Buddha came to understand through meditation, leading to his enlightenment. These Four Noble Truths are: Dukkha, the truth of suffering, Samudāya, the truth of the origin of suffering, Magga, the truth of the cessation of suffering and Nirodha, the truth of the path to the cessation of suffering. The fourth truth involves setting out on the Eightfold Path to find release for suffering. The Eightfold Path is all about finding the right way to live through right concentration, effort, livelihood, action, speech, intentions, view and mindfulness.

“I view Buddhism as having many truths and many things we can learn from practicing Buddhists,” says Shrier. “Buddhism is a philosophy first of all and with the Eightfold Path. … Those are all things I think are pretty comparable with Christianity.”

Buddha Siddhartha Gautama is the founder of Buddhism and the first Buddha. Followers seek to gain enlightenment like he did in sixth-century India.  There are currently over 488 million followers worldwide, according to a 2012 study conducted by Pew Center Research.

Hinduism

Hinduism has over 900 million followers worldwide and is one of the oldest religions in the world. It is unique in the fact that there is no founder, scripture or common teachings— instead, the religion continues to develop prominent teachers and new philosophies. Hinduism is known as a “way of life.” Some believe that people are born Hindu and others believe that Hinduism is a belief in an impersonal Supreme.

“I think Hinduism is perhaps the most pagan of the major world religions; there are multiple gods, there are gods at war, and I think many of them are demons,” Shrier says. “The caste system and other things Hinduism promotes, I think, are at odds with Christian faith. All of these religions have some type of bondage, raising barriers to Christ.  My understanding of Hinduism, maybe it is less of a preparation of Christ, but maybe there’s a clearer cut when Christ comes.”

Hinduism is not easy to define, but most believe in Veda, a sacred scripture, and hold Dharma as their system of values. Almost 80 percent of Indians consider themselves Hindu.  They believe in rebirth controlled by Karma, as they are reborn into a life depending on how their last one was lived. Dharma is the power to maintain the world and society and also allows people to act virtuously. This is played out very differently for each person depending on one’s age, gender and social position, thus changing the obligations for Dharma.

Judaism

Judaism became the first of the three Abrahamic faiths after it originated in the Middle East more than 3,500 years ago with Moses. The Jews believe in one God and acknowledge that they are the chosen people and in a covenant relationship with him. To supplement that covenantal relationship, Jews also believe that everyone can have a personal relationship with God as he continues to have his hand in the lives of everyone.

Jews believe they are to keep God’s laws and bring holiness to their lives. Jews are led by rabbis and follow the teachings of the Torah. They are the chosen people who are responsible to set an example of holiness and ethics within their community. They believe infants should be circumcised at 8 days old and believe all should observe the Sabbath together.

A great persecution of the faith was during the Holocaust. At that time, the numbers of Jews decreased greatly, as 6 million were murdered during this dark period of history.

Mormonism

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints was founded in the United States by Joseph Smith during the 19th century before being further developed by Brigham Young. Mormons believe that their church can serve as a restoration for the ways that Christianity has gone astray. They believe that God is a physical person with a wife and the ability to have children.  Mormons also believe that they can become gods upon entering into heaven.

The faithful follow the Book of Mormon and hold to the belief that God is continuing to reveal himself. They also believe that there will be a physical gathering of Israel as its Ten Tribes will be restored and the New Jerusalem will be built in America, Christ reigning on earth as the glory of the globe returns.

“I believe they (Mormons) are Christian; they are just sects that have added on heresies.  We have also caricatured the Mormon church,” says Shrier. “In defending the Christian faith, …we do have to create boundaries of in- and outsiders.”

Shrier states Christianity needs to be inclusive of both Mormonism and Jehovah’s Witnesses.

Islam

Islam is the second-largest world religion, with over 1 billion followers.  They believe Islam was revealed in Mecca over 1,400 years ago.

According to the Muslim belief, there is one God, Allah, and different prophets, including Jesus, Moses and Abraham, who set examples about how people should live. The final prophet was Muhammad.

Their beliefs are based on the Quran, their holy book, and the Sunnah, the practical example given by Muhammad. Muslims also work to hold the Pillars of Islam: declaration of faith, prayer five times a day, giving money to charity, fasting and eventually embarking on a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Muslims believe in Allah as the true God, angels, the holy books, the prophets, the day of judgement and predestination. Their lives and religion are to always be set to honor God.

“All of these religions have both cultural and actual religious practices, Christianity too, … so we have to differentiate between the practices and the faith,” Shrier says. “I think the reverence for God, … they recognize his power and awesomeness, our requirement to be subservient to God, so we can learn from them.”

Atheism

Atheists believe that there is an absence of gods or spiritual beings.  They avoid using God to explain the universe and instead believe that humans can live by their own set of moral codes and ethics and have no need for the aid of gods.

People choose to be atheists for a variety of reasons. Some of the common ones include: lack of supporting evidence for traditional religions, lack of interest in faith and its seemingly nonsensical or irreverent features, or acknowledgment of some of the harms that have been done in the name of religion.

Atheists may follow the same moral code as traditionally religious people but do not consult God or scriptures. They work to decide what it means to be human on their own.  Many atheists are very knowledgable about religions, but they do not see the application in their life and instead work toward living morally. It’s important to remember that being moral is not dependent upon being religious.

This information highlights the very basics of these faiths or belief systems. While it is a lot of data, the best way to learn more seems to be to humbly listen and admit ignorance on the subject, if such is the case. Many recommend to seek first to understand, then to be understood, in engaging in relationships across religious boundaries.